AI for fraud detection to triple by 2021: SAS Study

While only 13 per cent of organisations use artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to detect and deter fraud, another 25 per cent plan to adopt such technologies in the next year or two – a nearly 200 per cent increase. Fraud examiners revealed this and other anti-fraud tech trends in a cross-industry, global survey by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), developed in collaboration with SAS.

The inaugural Anti-Fraud Technology Benchmarking Report examines data provided by more than 1,000 ACFE members about their employer organizations’ use of technology to fight fraud. Other notable trends include:

The rise of biometrics. About one in four organizations (26 per cent) use biometrics as part of their anti-fraud programs; another 16 per cent foresee deploying biometrics by 2021

Increasing budgets. More than half of organizations (55 per cent) plan to increase their anti-fraud tech budgets over the next two years

Changing data analysis techniques. By 2021, nearly three-quarters of organizations (72 per cent) are projected to use automated monitoring, exception reporting and anomaly detection. Similarly, about half of organizations anticipate employing predictive analytics/modeling (52 per cent; up from 30 per cent) and data visualization (47 per cent; currently 35 per cent).

“As criminals find new ways to exploit technology to commit schemes and target victims, anti-fraud professionals must likewise adopt more advanced technologies to stop them,” said Bruce Dorris, JD, CFE, CPA, President and CEO of the ACFE, adding, “But which technologies are most effective in helping organizations manage rising fraud risks? The answer to this question can be crucial in successfully implementing new anti-fraud technologies.”

Survey respondents hail from 24 industries – most prevalently banking/financial services (21 per cent) and government/public administration (17 per cent) – and span the globe. The size of their employer organizations ranges from less than 100 employees to more than 10,000.

“Understanding peers’ technologies and strategies can help organizations determine where the industry is headed and guide their anti-fraud tech investments,” said James Ruotolo, Senior Director of Products and Marketing for Fraud and Security Intelligence at SAS, adding, “The dramatic rise of AI, machine learning and predictive modeling reveals that, beyond the hype, advanced analytics is helping investigators keep steps ahead of increasingly sophisticated fraudsters.”

“With the spike in occurrences of fraud in the Financial & Public sectors, it has become increasingly important to combat the menace with a combination of domain expertise and improved technology that can analyze volumes of data, detect anomalies or even trigger alerts on behavioral misconducts. Criminals find new ways to exploit systems each day, but advanced analytics, AI and Machine Learning will clearly be among the most-used technologies to combat fraud risk going forward,” said Noshin Kagalwalla, VP & Managing Director, SAS India.

The Anti-Fraud Technology Benchmarking Report debuted at the sold-out 30th annual ACFE Global Conference, convening more than 3,000 fraud-fighting professionals on June 23-28 in Austin, TX. The report’s supporting sponsors include Intel and Capgemini.

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